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THE PATUXENT 

AND OTHER POEMS 




THE AUTHOR 



THE PATUXENT 



AND OTHER POEMS 



BY 

LUKE F. MATTHEWS 



BALTIMORE 

The Sun Book and Job Pnntins Office 

1907 






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Copyright, 1907, by 
LUKE F. MATTHEWS 



Having undertaken, at the suggestion of the Editor 
of the Calvert Journal, to compose a tribute to the 
Patuxent River, I have taken advantage of the oppor- 
tunity presented, to combine with it a tribute of esteem 
and regard to the many friends it has been our good 
fortune to make in the territory through which we 
travel ; especially to those of Calvert and that portion 
of Anne Arundel included in our route. 

In this way I undertake to express to some extent the 
appreciation felt for the universal courtesy extended 
both to my brother and myself during more than ten 
years of business and social intercourse. 

However poorly expressed this tribute may be, I 
hope, in consideration of the sentiment which sug- 
gested it, that its faults may be overlooked by those 
to whom it is addressed. 

Luke F. Matthews. 

Park Hall, St. Mary's County, Maryland. 



TO THE PATUXENT 

Beautiful river, rushing along, 
Your tawny current swift and strong, 
A provident mother gathering food 
To feed and nourish your hidden brood ; 
Through marshes broad your way you find 
Where waving rushes bend to the wind. 
Where, expanding its bloom of purest white, 
And bringing its crimson centre to light, 
The wild hollyhock profusely grows. 
Disputing the place with the pale wild rose ; 
Where the yellow daisy's brilliant glare 
Brightens the landscape far and near. 
While the marsh lily's purple bloom 
Tones the scheme in nature's loom; 
Here the reed bird makes her home 
And here the hunters ruthless come : 
Through these scenes your course you wind, 
Till, leaving your marshy home behind. 
And from its close embraces freed. 
Cleansing your bosom of silt and weed, 
Ere half your lengthened course is run 
From the western hills to the rising sun ; 



8 Patuxent and Other Poems 

From the purpling east to the glowing west, 

Sunbeams dance on your silvery breast. 

While wending your course from shore to shore 

And hastening your wealth of waters to pour 

Into the waiting, welcoming sea ; 

List to the praise I sing to Thee, 

And lend me an inspiration clear 

That I may pay a tribute meet 

To your beautiful shores, to your waters fleet, 

To the homes adorning each hill and dell 

And to the friends that in them dwell. 

Five sister Counties here adorn your tide, 

Your beauties share, your hidden wealth divide 

Sweeping past Arundel's fertile fields 

Which to willing hands a bounteous harvest yields, 

Changing your course as on your way you forge 

You lap the bolder face of fair Prince George, 

Charles holding in a close but brief embrace, 

(A stolen kiss, snatched from a half averted face,) 

*Scene now alone of calm and peaceful thrift, 

But if the curtain of the past you lift; 



*Part of the British army landed at this point (Benedict), 
War 1812, whence they began their march on Washington and 
Baltimore. 



Patuxent and Other Poems 9 

Behold the passing of an invading host, 

■^Whose leader dearly paid his brutal boast, 

Against a nation determined to be free. 

And whose flag now proudly floats from sea to sea ; 

A flag then scarce known to the world beyond her shore 

But now where'er it floats is to that world a Law ; 

Recalling also a more recent strife. 

When brother and friend, sought friend and brother's 

life! 
And from hence not far removed. 
That time of trouble, when men's souls were proved, 
Beheld the household's head, with single hand. 
Defy and halt the invaders' brutal band. 

Scene now alone of peace and social grace. 

Home of the gifted daughters of a fearless race. 

Now by Calvert's shore you swiftly glide. 

Where peace, content and courtesy abide. 

Fair County, which enshrines a name 

Linked not with oppression, nor proscription's shame ; 

But with a generous heart, which refuge planned, 

In his infant State for the oppressed of every land ; 

A boon assured and by none other given ; 

Bearing the seal and patent right of Heaven. 



tGeneral Ross is said to have boasted, preceding the attack 
on Baltimore, that he would "dine in Baltimore or sup in 
Hell!" 



lo Patuxent and Other Poems 

Badge of a single State upon our lengthened coast ; 

Ingrafted now, a Nation's glorious boast! 

Here no 'Vude Carpathian boor, 

Against the houseless stranger shuts the door." 

But where the traveller, whate'er his honored quest. 

Finds generous welcome waits the coming guest, 

And in parting carries on his way, 

Grateful 'membrance of his pleasant stay. 

In pleased anticipation, outstripping time, 

He turns his steps again to your hospitable clime. 

Past homes once bright with joyous social life, 

Deserted now for the City's noise and strife. 

Here St. Leonard guards your bolder shore, 

There St. Cuthbert's hospitable door : 

Now Point Patience, swiftly rushing round. 

Where thy depths no fathomed line has found ; 

On, where poetic fancy by faith enf used ; 

In happy numbers attest a gift well used. 

Past thy Island's busy scene — * 

Where till close of eve ; from morning's early dawn. 

The inspiring hum of industry goes on. 



*To explain an apparent inconsistency, the reader will bear 
in mind that the United States postal designation "Solomons" 
includes a considerable area of the mainland as well as the 
Island proper. 

Isaac Solomon gave the impetus to the industries at this 
place and his name to the Island ; the venture, however, proved 
a loss to him and the property long since passed into other 
hands. 



Patuxent and Other Poems ii 

Here no "hollow-eyed eaters of the Lotus bloom," 

"In soft and glorious ease" their days consume. 

But with bronzed cheek, strong arm and steady hand 

The hardy sons of toil, the plow or helm command. 

These win their guerdon from the willing soil. 

Those from thy hidden depths requite their toil. 

From the busy shipyards clear resound 

The hammer's clang, the anvil's ringing sound ; 

As tug or barge, schooner or canoe 

Are framed and launched, their varied work to do. 

But though these proclaim man's progressive power. 

They also surely mark his fleeting hour. 

How he may build and plan and spend his force, 

And ere he has run his brief allotted course, 

Behold others reap the seed which he has sown, 

Claiming as theirs, what he'd fondly deemed his own ; 

And in departing for whence he came. 

Leave naught to tell his presence, save his name ! 

On thy bosom float craft of every sort ; 
From tiny skiff and fleet canoe to the murderous float- 
ing fort : 
The Nation's bulwark 'gainst an outward foe — 
Contrived to deal as well as fend a blow. 
Triumph in construction of man's destructive skill. 
Asserting his right to live by proving his power to kill ! 



12 Patuxent and Other Poems 

O'ertopping- all, and towering to the skies, 
The Giant Berth here moored, securely lies, 
Which lifts these monsters from their watery place 
And securely holds them in its firm embrace : 
Safe as a child which on its mother's breast, 
Tired of play securely takes its rest, 
These rest securely in this monster lap, 
While ready hands repair stern war's mishap ; 
Or cleanse the tarnished hulls of clinging weed 
Which mar their lines and their swift course impede. 

Though these man's harsher instincts all proclaim ; 

Another fleet suggests more peaceful aim. 

Each day, from creek and inlet, o'er five hundred sail, 

Their canvas spread to catch the morning gale, 

To rob thy bosom of its hidden store ; 

While white wings bear them, swift from shore to 

shore ; 
The more ambitious broader waters seek 
And "lay their course" for the wider Chesapeake ; 
To work the cumbrous dredge in this inland sea, 
Leaving smaller craft and shaft and tong to thee. 

These scenes, fair river, your passage greet, 
As you roll your shining waters to the Chesapeake 
And mingling with Potomac's sweeping tide. 
The broad bosom of the great Atlantic seek. 




INNER HARBOR, SOLOMON'S, MD. 



Patuxent and Other Poems 13 

Though all thy beauties I have tried to tell 
And pay to thee a tribute meet ; 
I know how poor, how incomplete, 

My effort is. 
How ill equipped I am to clothe in proper verse, 
The praise that's due Thee, or to rehearse 
The many grateful recollections that abide 
Of courteous friends that dwell on either side. 
But as it is I send it forth, with hope its little worth, 
May be overlooked for the thought that gave it birth ; 
And as a poor but earnest token of regard, 
In their kind 'membrance it may find a place 

As my reward ! 



14 Patuxent and Other Poems 



TO SAINT MARY'S 

Ere forced by duties which my time divide, 

Reluctantly these themes I lay aside ; 

To you, St. Mary's, fairest of the five ! 

(Long may your beauties and your varied charms 

survive) 
The tribute of a faithful son I'd pay : 
And may a fitting inspiration come, 
As I this grateful task essay : 
May I paint thy charms in words of faithful praise 
And others, through descriptive numbers on your 

beauties gaze. 
Though no sombre pall of gloomy factory smoke 
Obscures thy sky, nor greed nor hate evoke ; 
Tempting vainglorious man "feeble tenant of an hour," 
To crush his ''fellow worm" through abuse of wealth 

and power: 
Where the individual is lost in the dense conglomerate 

mass 
Where justice is by greed ignored : 
While resentment rails at class. 
Whose footsteps your genial soil press, 
With praise your natural charms confess : 



Patuxent and Other Poems 15 

Through man's neglect alone is your beauty marred, 

Squand'ring the gifts it were his lot to guard. 

Almost an Island : in your long extent, 

What divers charms are in your landscape blent ! 

The open fields, the wooded waste, the gently swelling 

hill, 
God's benizon to man proclaim with more than writers' 

skill. 
Here spreads abroad the "soothing weed" and billows 

the ripening grain 
And in their time, from morn till eve, the birds make 

glad refrain. 
These play their part in Nature's law ; and to make the 

scene complete, 
Behold curving shore and glistening sands where land 

and water meet. 
Here Chesapeake's broad waters lave your eastern face, 
Three stately rivers, north, south and west your 

bound'ries trace, 
Tribute to these, on either side, many a creek and bay 

your shores divide. 
Piercing your bosom to its inmost part. 
Fed by copious streams, which from this bosom start : 
These watery ways so well your needs avail. 
You scarcely note the absence of the iron rail. 



1 6 Patuxent and Other Poems 

Of all thy wealth of waters, thy namesake river holds 
The place of highest honor as thy history unfolds : 
Not for graceful headlands which rise from either shore 
Nor for the limpid waters which through her channels 

flow, 
To greet the broad Potomac, sweeping to the sea ; 
But for the glory that is hers — rehgion here made free ; 
For the flag of toleration, here gloriously unfurled, 
And for liberty of conscience proclaimed before the 

world. 

Within thy bounds, St. Mary's ! my life began. 
And here, may I in peace complete this mortal span ! 
And though the record of this life may not have been 
Such that I might Divine approval win ; 
Though misuse of time, to vain pleasures given. 
Which led me oft to turn my steps from Heaven, 
Has marked its course through many a wasted year, 
And brought reproach instead of hope or cheer : 
Though stubborn will, rejecting grace's appeal, 
Has made such wounds, regret nor time can heal ; 
Though what should be the calm decline of life. 
Is frequent marred by restless inward strife : 
Yet may I hope. 

Admonished by infirmities which wear my 
strength away, 
That this mortal part must soon return to clay ; 




CALVERT MONUMENT, ST. MARY'S CITY, MD, 



Patuxent and Other Poems 17 

Through mercy of God and trials with patience borne, 

Through the Cross and Passion of His Incarnate Son, 

Through that assistance which we invoke, 

Promised when, ''Behold Thy Son" He spoke, 

Her Holy Spouse's and all Heavenly hosts : 

When for me, time's final course is run, 

To calmly gaze upon 'life's setting sun," 

This body in atonement offer to its mother earth, 

This soul, with hope, present to the source which gave 

it birth : 
And on that final day see these, united, rise 
To glorify God's mercy for aye beyond the skies ? 



1 8 Patuxent and Other Poems 



THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 

''Hail, full of grace," the Angel said, 
And She, 

The Divine command, with meek submis- 
sion heard. 
Which linked Her name forever to the Incarnate Word ; 
Chosen mystic Shrine, Immaculate Conceived, 
From whom the Lord of Heaven His humanity derived ; 
For when He who is *'purity itself," 
"In whose sight the Heavens are not clean," 
Moved by love Divine, would fallen man redeem : 
Though clothed with a "glorious body," made to 

"man's estate," 
To His expectant people He could have come, 
And their human hope elate ; 
He chose to confute the proud : by example meek, 
To teach degenerate man. 
Through pain and sorrow He must Heaven's portals 

•seek. 
Nor did He refuse, as He came to spare. 
From crib to tomb our miseries to share : 
But assuming in His love man's debt of sin, 
He chose His mortal life, an Infant to begin. 



Patuxent and Other Poems 19 

Yet though thus His God-head humbHng our salvation 

to attend, 
With man's companionship did this humbHng end. 
For not e'en to save from eternity of pain, 
Those "whom as Himself He loved" could His Divinity 

ordain, 
By one iota to acknowledge Satan's reign : 
Therefore, as from His Mother, His humanity He 

drew. 
And what His Mother's was, so His human nature too ; 
Having chosen to be born as to the natural law. 
Then this human source must be likewise without a 

flaw: 
Or else behold ! 

This monst'rous contradiction : 

God's majesty and power; 
Bowing to Hell's dominion, 

For e'en the fraction of an hour : 

Thus when the Divine anathema was on Adam's off- 
spring placed ; 

From one single creature's soul this stem mandate was 
effaced. 

And chosen before all time the Mother of God to be, 

Then Queen of Heaven to reign 

She came into this world free from sinful stain. 



20 Patuxent and Other Poems 

And from His cross of anguish her Son Divine, 

Those He died to save, to Her consigned, 

''Behold Thy Son" He said, and through His bounteous 

grace. 
Placed in Her Maternal care the human race. 
The Christian's help ! in hour of need or hope, 
To earn a pardon, or with temptation cope : 
The sinner's refuge ! whene'er in trial or pain, 
Who faithful seeks her aid, ne'er seeks that aid in vain ! 



Patuxent and Other Poems 21 



TO A CHILD 

May the Spring of your life see the roses in bloom, 
May the Summer around you distill their perfume, 
In calm retrospection may your Autumn be passed, 
And your Winter be free from regret's chilling blast. 



22 Patuxent and Other Poems 



TO A YOUNG GIRL 

May the thorns in your path guard the roses from 

harm, 
May the roses, themselves, lend additional charm 
To the virtues and graces so bounteously given, 
And may Angels of light guide your footsteps to 

Heaven. 



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